Bone fractures, deformities and other conditions may be treated using a variety of medical devices. A surgeon selecting an appropriate medical device or devices for treatment of a fracture may take into account information about the fracture, the potential devices, the individual patient, and/or the potential stresses and motions to which the bone and device may be subject, among other things. In the case of plates used to treat bone fractures, in order to treat a fracture appropriately, surgeons and others desire to know or predict the proper plate/screw configuration to optimize the biomechanics of the particular fracture they are treating. They also frequently need to select between locking and traditional non-locked screws, which may perform in significantly different ways because of biomechanic differences. In short, selection of an appropriate medical device may be limited by a surgeon's limited ability to predict the performance of potential fracture and medical device constructs.
Various studies are underway to evaluate the plate/bone biomechanics of common fractures. However, there are many challenges in dealing with the many permutations of fracture, plate, and locked or unlocked screws. Biomechanics studies defining the biomechanics for a particular fracture/plate construct typically provide information only for the particular fracture/plate constructs and do not provide any ability to evaluate or optimize among multiple permutations of fracture type and constructs. Often surgeons do not have information about the specific biomechanics of the patients they are treating and simply rely on instinct and experience to select among alternative options.
The July 2004 thesis of Jonathan Kirk Nielson titled “Expedited Finite Element Analysis of Ankle External Fixation Stiffness,” which is incorporated herein by this reference, discloses software for measuring llizarov distal tibia frame axial stiffness that utilizes finite element analysis software. The software allows a user to specify different wire and pin configurations as input and delivers axial movement of the tibia as output. However, the approach does not include the actual bone or fracture(s) in the bone in the characterization.
There is a need for enhanced simulation capabilities and, in the context of plate devices, there is a need for simulation of performance of alternative plate/screw configurations that takes into account actual bone, plate type, and/or screw configuration characteristics. Such simulation may allow selection of among alternative configurations to optimize biomechanics and provide more rapid healing, fewer non-unions and failures. There is a further need for a computer system that offers adequate simulation that allows a surgeon to input information about the fracture type and characteristics, as well as potential plate and screw combinations, and choose the appropriate plate and locked or unlocked screw configuration to optimize the biomechanics for the fracture and other bone characteristics of the patient. Similar needs also exist for other types of devices, including, but not limited to, screws, external fixators and other devices used in orthopaedic or trauma applications.